| Bootleg Access is the highest navigable point on
the Big River, and was used by moonshiners to float their
whiskey to mills along the river and even to St Louis. South of
Potosi and not far from Washington State Park where you can see
petroglyphs left by an ancient tribe, this is an area of
archeological interest. It's quite possible the tribes cropped
this same land. The Ozark Trail is nearby and runs north and
south along the border of Council
Bluffs Recreation Area. The lake impounds 440 acres of water
at the headwaters of the Big River.
While modern machinery has given us the ability to build
roads through any terrain, the old roads of Missourah follow the
tribal trade routes. My favorite is the Devil's Backbone because
it marks a clear line between two major watersheds; the northern
shed is to St Louis, and the southern shed is to the Bootheel,
though the more western rivers flow to Arkansas and Memphis.
The Big River joins the Gasconade and Missouri Rivers west of
St Louis emptying into the Mississippi to the north of the city.
The Meramec River runs south and establishes the southern
border. There are many artifacts of a trading post and arrowhead
factory in the Fenton area along the river owing to a rich
deposit of flint and ease of transport.
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